What is synapomorphy?

1 Answer
Feb 11, 2017

Synapomorphy is a shared derived character or trait that distinguishes a clade from other organisms.

Explanation:

Synapomorphy refers to a derived characteristic of a clade. The concept of synapomorphy is relative to a clade in the tree of life.

In phylogeny , a derived character of a clade that has been inherited from a common ancestor and distinguishes the clade from other potentially related organisms is called synapomorphy.